She start to get up and then she don’t, it better if she stay down like nothing going on. She nervous, though. She know he looking, trying to catch her messing up. He watch her like a hawk, like somebody with eyes in the back of they head. He don’t miss much. He come into the room and he see her. She smile, try to, but it wrong, she know it wrong, she guilty. He see it. He been out loading lumber or something all day long, he tired and ready for supper. But ain’t no supper yet. She know all this and ain’t said nothing. She scared to speak because she so guilty. But she mad over having to feel guilty, because some of this guilt his fault. Not all his fault. But some of it. Maybe half. Maybe less. This thing been going on a while. This thing nothing new.

“Hey honey,” she say.

“I done unloaded two tons of two-by-fours today,” he say.

“You poor baby,” she say. “Come on and have a little drink with Mama.” That the wrong thing to say.

“What?” he say. “You drinkin again? I done told you and told you and told you.”

“It’s just wine,” she say.

“Well woman how many you done had?”

“This just my first one,” she say, but she lying. She done had five and ain’t even took nothing out the deep freeze. Wind up having a turkey pot pie or something. Something don’t nobody want. She can’t cook while she trying to figure out what to do. Don’t know what to do. Ain’t gonna drink nothing at all when she get up. Worries all day about drinking, then in the evening she done worried so much over not drinking she starts in drinking. She in one of them vicious circles. She done even thought about doing away with herself, but she hate to leave her husband and her little boy alone in the world. Probably mess her little boy up for the rest of his life. She don’t want to die anyway. Angel ain’t but about thirty years old. She still good-looking, too. And love her husband like God love Jesus. Ain’t no answer, that’s it.

“Where that bottle?” he say.

Now she gonna act like she don’t know what he talking about. “What bottle?” she say.

“Hell, woman. Bottle you drinkin from. What you mean what bottle?”

She scared now, frightened of his wrath. He don’t usually go off. But he go off on her drinking in a minute. He put up with anything but her drinking.

“It’s in the fridge,” she say.